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Day in the Life of a Cardiothoracic Surgeon

This is an aerial view of:

Lehigh Valley Hospital

The main hospital is located at the crossroads of I-78 and Cedar Crest Boulevard in Salisbury Township just outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

I have visited hospitals all over the world and I am proud to say that Lehigh Valley Hospital has the finest facilities and best location of any hospital I have ever known.


To the left is the lobby to the Pool Pavilion.  

Named after Leonard P. Pool, the founder of Lehigh Valley Hospital's Cedar Crest site.

Mr. Pool had a vision for our community --he wanted to ensure that people in our community would have access to the best possible health care.

Today, Lehigh Valley Hospital is recognized as one of the finest hospitals in the country providing excellent clinical care as well as education and research.


To the right is the 

Jaindl Family Pavilion

Named after Fred Jaindl and his family for their generous contribution to the construction of this building.

The Jaindl Family Pavilion houses state of the art intensive care units, including a burn unit, trauma unit, pediatric and neonatal units, as well as adult medical and surgical intensive care.

Also located in the Jaindl Family Pavilion is our obstetrics units and nurseries.


 

<--- Here's a view of the Jaindl Family Pavilion from the south side, showing the entrance to the emergency room.

We are currently expanding our emergency room because of the high demand for its emergency and trauma services.  We apologize for the inconvenience of the the construction, but when it is all finished it will be a state-of-the-art facility.


Here's a picture of former Governor Ridge making a dedication to the Jaindl Family Pavilion. --->


Another great addition to Lehigh Valley Hospital is the 

John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center

The John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center provides the finest and most up-to-date cancer treatment and care.

The Lehigh Valley Heart and Lung Surgeons office on the Cedar Crest Campus is located on the fourth floor of the John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center, Suite 403.

Our office address at the Cedar Crest campus is:

1240 S. Cedar Crest Blvd.

Suite 403

Allentown, PA 18103

Phone: 610-402-6890

 

 

We also have an office at the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg Campus:

To the right is the new clinical tower at LVH-M.

It includes a brand new open heart surgery intensive care unit.

It's truly magnificent.  Stay tuned as our Muhlenberg campus will continue to grow and look more and more like our Cedar Crest campus.

Our office address at the Muhlenberg Campus is:

2545 Schoenersville Road

Fourth Floor

Bethlehem, PA 18017

Phone: 484-884-1011

 

 

 

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Multi-disciplinary tumor boards (committees) meet weekly to discuss how best to treat our patients.  We review all of our cancer patients in the presence of medical doctors, surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, researchers, social workers, and more.  It's truly an amazing effort and it has enhanced the lives of my lung cancer patients and their families.

Well, so much for the physical plant.

This page is supposed to be "a day in the life" so how does it usually begin?

On most days, I try to wake up around 5:30 AM.  This usually should give me enough time to complete my patient rounds in the hospital before going to the operating room.

I don't seem to mind getting up so early, but I often don't get home until 7 or 8 PM, so there isn't much time, if any, during the week to see my family.

So, it's off to work.  By 6:30 or so I'm in the Open Heart Intensive Care Unit checking on my patients who I operated on the day before and then I make rounds in the Transitional Open Heart Unit and the other medical floors.

Prior to going to the operating room, I'll review the patient's cardiac catheterization films and/or x-rays, and then it's off to the operating room:

This is OR Room 15 -->

Here I perform both heart and lung surgery.

(I discuss more about heart and lung surgery on other pages, plus I have provided you with links to other heart and lung sites)

On any given day, I'll perform 1 to 2 open heart procedures and/or 2 to 3 lung operations.  Remember: "cardiothoracic" surgery involves operating on both heart and lungs, and sometimes esophagus and other structures in the chest.  Interestingly, most cardiothoracic surgeons choose either heart or lung/chest surgery, but our surgeons have maintained a combined practice of both "cardiac" and "thoracic" surgery.

As you can see, the operating room can be a hectic place with lots of instruments and machinery, especially during complex open heart procedures.

Some operations, such as removal of part of a lung, can take as little as 1 to 2 hours to complete.  On the other hand, many complex open heart procedures can take as long as 4 to 8 hours.

I'm often asked how I can stand in one place for so many hours without a break?  Well, most of the time, as the surgeon, we are concentrating so much on the procedure that we don't notice the time.  The other point is that we all trained for many years, slowly building up to more and more complex procedures.

Even so, it is very difficult sometimes, especially if there are emergencies and the patients are quite ill.  In these cases, even after many hours in the operating room, we sometimes have to stay by the bedside for hours trying to stabilize the patient.

After the operation is completed, my open heart surgery patients will recover in the Open Heart Unit (OHU) for the first night.  The OHU is one of the many fine intensive care units at Lehigh Valley Hospital:

Usually after only one night, the open heart surgery patients can leave the intensive care unit and go to the Transitional Open Heart Unit (TOHU).  The patients will stay here for the remainder of their hospitalization, usually only 3 or 4 days.

My lung surgery patients usually go directly to the Transitional Open Heart Unit without requiring an intensive care unit.  Even though the care for heart and lung patients is different, the staff in TOHU have a tremendous experience of caring for both heart and lung patients.

Taking care of the patients after surgery is just as important as doing a good job in the operating room:

<-- To the left are two IV (Intra-Venous) poles with stacks of medication pumps.  For very high risk patients, the doctors and nurses may have to adjust a variety of medications at one time in order to stabilize the patient.  Today, we are lucky to live in a time when the technology is there to save even the most ill of patients.

Unfortunately, a good part of every day for all of us in healthcare is paperwork!

In addition to writing progress notes and orders in the charts, we have to fill out data bank registries, flow charts, instructions to patients, prescriptions, letters to referring doctors, insurance forms, disability forms, and on and on.

Another part of my day is going to meetings.  We have a ton of meetings every week that we have to fit into an already busy schedule:

In any given week I may attend: Surgical Grand Rounds, Cardiothoracic Surgery Mortality and Morbidity Conference, General Surgery Mortality and Morbidity Conference, Lung Tumor Board, Lung Cancer Clinic, The Lehigh Valley Heart and Lung Surgeons Business Meetings, Research Meetings, Education Meetings, and Hospital Administration Meetings.

Of course, it's not all work and no play.  Several times a year we have receptions to celebrate our work with our colleagues:

At the end of the day, I usually go to my office and read my mail.  Often I have letters to dictate and patients to call on the phone.  Then, just prior to going home, I always take one last walk through the open heart unit and transitional open heart unit to check on my patients.  

At night, my partners and I rotate on duty for answering pages and emergencies.  It's not often, but sometimes we're up all night long with an emergency operation.  If that should occur, I, unfortunately, will need to cancel the next day's operations so I can get some rest.  No one likes to have their surgery postponed, but most patients understand that emergencies do occur from time to time.

Guess what is the best part of my day?  Going home to my family.  Many years ago when I left home for college, my father wrote me a letter in which he said, "I guess, Ray, a guy needs a reason to keep going and when things got a little heavy I would look at you and knew I had my reason."

Well, when I'm working hard late at night, or when I'm tired, or frustrated by all of the challenges of being a heart and lung surgeon today, I look at my family and I know I have my reason to keep going.

As Tom Hanks said playing Forrest Gump, "I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is..."

Thank you for sharing this day at work with me.  I hope you enjoy the rest of my website!

Last Modified Monday, May 14, 2007


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Disclaimer: THIS SITE IS NOT TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION. IT IS ONLY TO BE USED FOR EDUCATION, REFERENCE, AND ENTERTAINMENT.  If you are experiencing problems with your heart and lungs, please contact your doctor. NOTHING TAKES THE PLACE OF SPEAKING TO YOUR OWN DOCTOR. This site is meant to heighten awareness of health information as pertains to the heart and lungs and does not suggest diagnosis or treatment. This information is not a substitute for medical attention. See your health-care professional for medical advice and treatment.


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